optician
optician Lexical Profile
optician Game Scores & Validity
• noun
A technician trained to design, verify, and fit eyeglass lenses and frames, contact lenses, and other devices to correct eyesight according to prescriptions supplied by an ophthalmologist or optometrist.
"The optician helped her choose a lightweight frame that suited the thickness of her new prescription lenses."
British A qualified professional who examines eyes, tests sight, and prescribes and dispenses spectacles and contact lenses.
"He booked an appointment with the high-street optician after noticing that road signs were becoming blurry."
A maker or seller of optical instruments and precision lenses, such as microscopes, telescopes, and binoculars.
"In the nineteenth century, the London optician became famous for grinding high-precision lenses for astronomical observatories."
Word Nuance & Usage
In American English, an optician designs and fits corrective lenses based on a prescription, whereas an optometrist examines eyes and prescribes lenses, and an ophthalmologist is a medical doctor who performs eye surgery; in British English, 'optician' is commonly used as a general term for an optometrist.
• Rhymes for optician
Word Origin & Etymology
Borrowed in the late 17th century from French opticien, from Medieval Latin optica ('optics'), which derives from Ancient Greek optikos ('of or for sight'), from ops ('eye').